The Sunday Independent's View: Time is running out for the Government to get a grip on housing

Irish Independent

4 hours ago

For the Government, it offers an opportunity for reflection as it nears the halfway stage of its own first year. What has been achieved since coming into office again in January?
The administration has been accused of seeming less like a new broom than a threadbare old brush; not so much sweeping clean as brushing the country's problems under a rug to be tidied up later.
But defenders of the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael-led Coalition would no doubt argue it has been faced with a series of obstacles since the start of the year, most notably the still unresolved threat of tariffs from Donald Trump.
There is also the worsening international ­situation, which last week saw Ireland join other countries in pulling embassy staff from Iran as the conflict with Israel continues.
These, however, are matters with which all our partners are having to deal. It is no excuse for not dealing robustly with domestic matters.
The legislation programme for the summer term of the Oireachtas lists a number of bills as a priority, including the Defence (Amendment) Bill which will remove the so-called triple-lock on Irish troops serving abroad, as well as measures tackling air pollution, cyber security and terrorism. All important matters, no question about it.
The logjam in planning and services is well documented
But none directly addresses the deepest issue confronting the country: that is, of course, the lack of supply, and crippling cost, of housing.
Last week there was more bad news as the Central Bank revised downward its forecast for the number of houses that will be built between now and 2027 — also the midway point of the 34th Dáil, a date which the Government may find itself careening towards at an alarming pace.
This year, it now expects 32,500 homes to be built, well short of what is needed to make a significant dent in the target of 300,000 by 2030.
The logjam in planning and services is well documented. Historically, it has often felt as if Irish bureaucracy stymies rather than stimulates innovation. No wonder we lag far behind comparable EU states when it comes to infrastructure.
The apparent lack of urgency to break through these roadblocks remains a bigger concern.
The Government already seems to have ­retreated into explaining rather than doing, as if seeking to justify in advance the failure to meet its own target, which it has already accepted is inevitable.
The appointment of the former HSE chief ­executive as chair of the newly revamped An ­Coimisiún Pleanála may make a difference.
If anyone has experience of cutting through red tape, it is Paul Reid. Health is another area where much-needed change sadly comes a cropper.
Ministers must act swiftly to hand him the power to green-light the infrastructure projects needed to house an estimated population of six million by 2040.
No other achievements by this Government will be worth a penny candle if the crisis in housing does not ease dramatically.
The summer recess is set to begin less than a month from now, on July 18. When TDs and senators return in September, all eyes will be on the presidential election and it will be the winter solstice before we know it.
It is still not too late to get a grip on housing, but it soon might be if more time is wasted.